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The Communiqué News

Swati Bhat

Italian illustrator and artist Lorenzo Mattotti is, for the fifth consecutive year, the author of the image for the official poster, and for the fourth year, of the opening sequence for the Venice International Film Festival of La Biennale di Venezia.

The image chosen for the poster this year depicts “a Lioness gliding through the air offering us this anniversary ¬– the 90th, explains Lorenzo Mattotti. It has been 90 years since the first Venice Film Festival and for this reason we wanted the image to be classical in style, just as the choice of a gold background was equally classical. The colour gold is also a reference to the posters of the early decades of the twentieth century. The Venice Film Festival has always been classical, but provocative as well. Here the Lion, symbol of power and strength, has been transformed into a Lioness who embodies elegance and creativity. After 90 years, the Lion of Venice, symbol of the Film Festival, has become a Lioness who flies through history with grace and energy, as a symbol of hope, a rejection of aggression and ferocity”.

Lorenzo Mattotti lives and works in Paris. He began his career in the late 1970s as a comic artist and in the early 1980s founded the Valvoline group with other illustrators. In 1984 he created "Fuochi", which was greeted as an event in the world of comic art, and won important international awards. In cinema, he collaborated in 2004 on Eros by Wong Kar-Wai, Soderbergh and Antonioni, and was responsible for the presentation segments of each episode. He was a creative consultant for Pinocchio by Enzo D'Alò. In "Incidenti", "Signor Spartaco", "Doctor Nefasto" "L'uomo alla finestra" and many more books, all the way to "Stigmate" published in Italy by Einaudi, Mattotti's work has evolved following an extremely coherent constant. Today his books are translated around the world. He publishes in newspapers and magazines such as The New Yorker, Le Monde, Das Magazin, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Nouvel Observateur, Corriere della Sera and Repubblica. He has illustrated many books for children including "Pinocchio" and "Eugenio", which won the Grand Prix in Bratislava in 1993. He has held many solo exhibitions including an anthological exhibition at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, at the FransHals museum in Haarlem and at the Musei di Porta Romana. He creates posters, covers, advertising campaigns and is the author of the Cannes 2000 poster and the posters for the Estate Romana festival.

In May 2019, he presented to great acclaim in the Un certain regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, his first animated feature-length film as author and director, titled La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia (The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily) inspired by the fable/apologue by Dino Buzzati.



Mumbai [India], July 18: Veteran singer Bhupinder Singh, best known for his songs such as 'Do Deewane Shaher Mein' and 'Hoke Majboor Mujhe Usne Bulaya Hoga', died on Monday at the age of 82.


According to Bhupinder Singh's wife Mitali Singh, the singer passed away due to a heart attack. Bhupinder Singh was undergoing treatment related to several health complications at the hospital for the past 10 days.

After learning about the unfortunate news, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit took to Twitter and paid his heartfelt condolences, stated "Singer and guitarist BhupinderSingh 's demise is a great loss to the film industry, especially the music world. Heartfelt condolences to his wife #Mitalee ji and the entire family. Will always be remembered through his songs," Pandit tweeted. Over a decades-long career, Bhupinder Singh enthralled the audience with his evergreen songs like 'Hoke Majboor Mujhe, Usne Bulaya Hoga', 'Dil Dhoondhta Hai', 'Duki Pe Duki Ho Ya Satte Pe Satta', 'Kisi Nazar Ko Tera Intezar Aaj Bhi Hai' and many more.


Mumbai [India], July 13: Amazon has announced Alexa Originals in India, which is a collection of original songs by independent artists. For this, Amazon has collaborated with four Indie composers so that their music can reach as many people as possible and Alexa users can listen to fresh new music.


Swati Bhat

The ever-growing independent music scene — which engaged millions of Indian listeners with catchy hits in the 90s — is finally getting some long-overdue support from a loyal fan base and audio platforms. Recently, Amazon India announced the launch of Alexa Originals, an exclusive selection of new songs by four independent artists from India. Users can now listen to Besabar by Lisa Mishra, Bikhre from Vibha Saraf, Saathi and an instrumental track from Gulraj Singh, and Downtown by Diesby as part of Alexa Originals.

Listeners can say, "Alexa, start Originals" or request a specific song by the artist, saying, "Alexa, start Bikhre from Originals". One can listen to all songs for free on the Amazon shopping app (Android only), Echo Smart speakers, Alexa app for smartphones, and many Alexa built-in devices by other brands such as HP laptops.

“Each Alexa Original song has been created on the theme of relationships and includes music ranging from soul to pop and R&B. With Alexa built-in devices usually enjoyed by the entire family, I'm sure this selection will interest family members with diverse tastes”, says Dilip RS, Country Manager for Alexa, Amazon India. “It has been a delight to collaborate with these indie artists to curate our first line-up of Alexa Originals and we are happy to bring this to customers with the support of HP.”

Talking about her song, singer-songwriter Lisa Mishra says, "’Besabar is an upbeat dance-pop song that I had so much fun making. I hope people enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it. I am stoked to be the first few to collaborate with the Alexa team and super excited to see Alexa as the new millennial music destination."

For the last four years, Indian customers have been using Alexa on the Echo range of devices, Fire TV, Amazon shopping app for Android, and Alexa built-in devices by other brands. Listening to music is one of the most popular features, where customers request Alexa to play over 21.6 Lakh songs every day. With Alexa Originals, customers will find new reasons to enjoy music from these talented independent artists on Alexa. In the last three years, preference for music created by independent artists has increased significantly. On Amazon Prime Music, the plays for a song by independent music artists have increased by 37% in the same time frame.

Gulraj Singh, a film music director and singer known for his soothing melodies, says, "I'm so happy to have Saathi released as one of the first songs for Alexa Originals. The song celebrates the true spirit of companionship and friendship, and I had a great time working on it with my lyricist friend Manoj Yadav. I'm always excited to create original music and have experimented with some exciting soundscapes and interesting musical arrangements for my instrumental track. I can't thank Amazon enough for this wonderful opportunity." The instrumental track by Gulraj Singh has a mix of ambient electronic sounds and authentic and ethnic instruments like Esraj, Bouzouki, Saz, Charango, and Mandolin.

Expressing her happiness over Alexa Originals, songwriter and Bollywood playback singer Vibha Saraf says, "I am excited to feature my music on Alexa, where people are going to access my song by simply calling out its title. How much simpler could it get!"

Diesby, an R&B artist who can sing in three languages, is also excited about his upcoming number on Alexa Originals. “Downtown is a love letter. The spark of first love and the beats will keep you grooving. It is the perfect song to dedicate to your beloved. I have created the song with a blend of modern Afro, R&B, and a touch of urban Punjabi. Playing around with different flavours makes the music more interesting and that's what I enjoy with my fellow producer Chapter6.”

Amazon Prime members in India can Discover Joy with the year’s best deals on Alexa-powered Amazon Echo devices during Amazon Prime Day 2022, which kicks off at midnight on July 23 and runs through July 24. The latest Echo smart speakers and smart displays will be on sale with up to 55% off. Also look out for great deals on Alexa built-in smartphones, smartwatches, TVs, speakers, and more.



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